[Coco] [SPAM] Kicking the Z-80 butts...

[K. Pruitt]

>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Joe Grubbs <jsgrubbs at hotmail.com>
> To: CoCoList for Color Computer Enthusiasts <coco at maltedmedia.com>
> Sent: Wed, Apr 29, 2015 9:37 am
> Subject: Re: [Coco] [SPAM]  Kicking the Z-80 butts...
>
>
> That was me (not the owner of the FM7, but the one who mentioned 
> multi-procs) :)
> Man, that thing is cool, I've never heard of it before. If the CoCo had a 
> second
> 6809 to handle graphics and sound, that would've been awesome. However 
> back then
> I'm sure it would have jacked the pricetag up quite a bit.
>
>
>
>> Date: Wed, 29
> Apr 2015 09:14:42 -0400
>> To: coco at maltedmedia.com
>> Subject: Re: [Coco] [SPAM]
> Kicking the Z-80 butts...
>> From: coco at maltedmedia.com
>> CC:
> ooogalapasooo at aol.com
>>
>> Someone said something about dual 6809s, the Japanese
> version of the Coco (Fujitsu FM-7 & FM-8) had dual 6809 CPUs, 1 for 
> oepration
> and one as a GPU. The memory went beyond 64k and graphics were better than 
> the
> Coco 2. Many american Coco games were proted to the FM-7 and had better 
> graphics
> and sound.
>> Here's some info (and pics) on the FM-7:
>>
>>
> http://www.nausicaa.net/~lgreenf/fm7page.htm
>>
>> Someone here on the list has
> one, I just can't remember who it is.
>>
>
>
>


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Bill Pierce via Coco" <coco at maltedmedia.com>
Sent: Wednesday, April 29, 2015 7:50 AM
Subject: Re: [Coco] [SPAM] Kicking the Z-80 butts...


> Joe, I've been reading about the FM-7 for years. I first heard of it 
> through mention of Microware's version of OS-9 for the FM-7 in a Rainbow 
> article.
> The graphics on the FM-7 were FAR superior to the Coco 2 and it had an MMU 
> capable of bank switching long before the Coco 3.
>
> With text resolutions of 80x25 & 40x25, and graphics resolution of 
> 640x200, blew the Coco 2 out of the water and it was comparable to the 
> Coco 3 even before it came out! Check out these screenshots!
> http://www.nausicaa.net/~lgreenf/fmsoft.htm
>
> Sound was 3 voice (onboard) with 3 noise channels.
>
> 3 card slots (one for a CP-M card), so expansion was available.
>
> I saw one on ebay a few years back but could not afford it and hated to 
> see it go to someone else. I've wanted one for years.
>
> The "FBASIC" is a port of Coco's MS BASIC with more commands. The OS-9 L1 
> was "almost" OS-9 L2. The screenshot shown actually says "OS-9 Level 2", 
> but a lot of people called OS-9 v1.2.0 "Level 2" up until the actual L2 
> came out Coco. Level 2 had been out for other machines for years, so most 
> of the work was done when they ported it to the Coco 3.
>
> Tandy could have done all this to the Coco, but I imagine it was out of 
> their "Coco budget" and besides, it would've been a better machine than 
> their lower end 1000s, and that would've been forbidden.
>
>
> Bill Pierce
> "Today is a good day... I woke up" - Ritchie Havens
>
>
> My Music from the Tandy/Radio Shack Color Computer 2 & 3
> https://sites.google.com/site/dabarnstudio/
> Co-Contributor, Co-Editor for CocoPedia
> http://www.cocopedia.com/wiki/index.php/Main_Page
> E-Mail: ooogalapasooo at aol.com
>
>
>

Oh good grief now I want one of those too!